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“Do we only do these conversations so that I will get in trouble?”

That’s Jon Stewart, at around the 4-minute mark above after a swiftly moving conversation (for a The Problem With Jon Stewart-associated podcast episode), in which he attempted to faux-argue that Taylor Swift spread disinformation about a scarf and Jake Gyllenhaal. That subject also brought Jon’s revelation that “I’ve gotten less blowback for Israel-Palestine than I did for a One Direction joke,” but the real subject here was a common one of late: Joe Rogan prompting a Spotify controversy with his Covid disinformation, which led Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to pull their music in protest.

Jon is stepping up (during a discussion with writers Chelsea Devantez and Jay Jurden) to semi-defend Rogan here (following Spotify’s decision to put a “content advisory” warning on his episodes), and that’s largely tied to how he views Joe compared to Tucker Carlson. Let’s back up a moment.

Tucker Carlson’s perpetual wallpaper face of confusion has become the stuff of nightmares for many, although he’s certainly claimed a devoted Fox News audience. One person who is most certainly not a Tucker fan: Jon. And he first gave his thoughts on the Rogan-Spotify controversy:

“Don’t leave, don’t abandon, don’t censor. Engage. I’m not saying that it’s always going to work out truthfully, but I am always of the mindset that engagement, and especially with someone like a Joe Rogan, who is not in my mind an ideologue in any way.”

From there, Jon discussed how Rogan made a false claim about myocarditis and younger people getting the Covid vaccine, and how Joe was called out on this BS by guest Josh Szeps. And in Stewart’s mind, Rogan handled this a lot better than Carlson would have done:

“If you are an ideologue, or if you are a dishonest person — Tucker Carlson never would have looked it up and would have given that look he gives, like somebody’s giving him a confusion enema. Like they’re just firing confusion up his ass. And Joe just went, ‘Oh, I didn’t know… uh, okay. I didn’t get that.”

From there, Stewart argued that Rogan seems like “a person that you can engage with,” so he believes that there’s too much “overblown rhetoric” about this Rogan controversy. Yet Stewart really doesn’t address how Rogan’s claims affect millions of listeners each day, including UFC president Dana White and Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, and all of that dangerous misinformation can work disastrous effects. So yup, a “content advisory” from Spotify ain’t so harsh.

Mark Wahlberg is a New England Patriots fan. You might not know this if you’ve never heard his almost-comically exaggerated Boston accent, but it’s true. So, like everyone else from the New England region this week, he was sad (and/or furious) to hear about former-Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s retirement from the NFL.

“He really did something that nobody else did. I certainly appreciate everything he did. And I know everybody else in New England and in Tampa… I mean, he changed the face of New England football, Tampa, and the NFL as a whole,” Wahlberg told Variety. “I just wish him good luck in everything else that he decides to do.”

When the reporter brought up that he could see Wahlberg in the inevitable Tom Brady biopic, the Uncharted star replied, “I could play his uncle. I could play Bill Belichick! I would love to play Bill Belichick. I’m working on the press conferences as we speak. The next five interviews that I do, I’m going to be Bill Belichick.” Expect lots of grumbling.

Brady only has a handful of acting credits to his name, but he did appear in the Wahlberg-starring Ted 2 and the Wahlberg-produced Entourage, so the two have a history. He’s one hoodie away from getting the job.

(Via Variety)

Fresh off her fan-fronted Emmy campaign, Euphoria’s Sydney Sweeney is diving into a new project, this time alongside multitalented pop star Halsey and Red Rocket’s Simon Rex.

National Anthem will be the directorial debut from Tony Tost, a writer and poet. Native American activist Marcus RedThunder serves as a consultant on the film, which will follow the ensemble cast as they hunt for a valuable rare Lakota Native American Ghost Shirt, each for various reasons. The film will be shot on location in New Mexico, and produced by Bron Studios, most recently known for House Of Gucci. Also starring in the film will be Cobra Kai’s Paul Walter Hauser, Toby Huss, Gavin Maddox Bergman, and Harriet Sansom Harris.

Tost told Deadline, “I am truly honored to have the opportunity to bring National Anthem to life on film, and to work with Page Fifty-Four Pictures, Bron Studios and this incredible cast,” says Tost. “I’m especially thrilled to be bringing to the screen a vision of modern rural America that pays tribute to the myths of the West while also radically reinventing them.”

This is slated to be Halsey’s acting debut, though the singer has been attached to various projects over the years, including a TV show with Sydney Sweeney. In 2020, it was announced that the two would star alongside each other in The Players Table based on the bestselling YA novel They Wish They Were Us. No updates on that project have been announced at the moment.

Conservative news site The Daily Wire is releasing a movie, for some reason, starring none other than controversial sperm-selling weirdo Vincent Gallo. If you feel so inclined to watch it, good news! They are releasing it for free on YouTube.

The movie, a thriller titled Shut In, (not to be confused with the 2016 Naomi Watts film of the same name) will also star Rainy Qualley, daughter of Andie MacDowell. Qualley stars as a young mother who is held captive by a violent ex, played by none other than Gallo. (Perhaps Qualley did not realize The Daily Wire is the site of conservative gadfly Ben Shapiro? We will give her the benefit of the doubt.) The movie did have promise when it was initially being developed, as Jason Bateman was attached to direct, but the job eventually went to Disturbia director D.J. Caruso in 2019.

The Daily Wire picked up the film for a US-only stream, that will also include a trailer premiere for the next Daily Wire film, Terror On The Prairie. This isn’t the first movie The Daily Wire has acquired–according to the site, their live-stream of 2020’s Run Hide Fight attracted 300,000 viewers.

The movie premieres on YouTube Thursday, Feb. 10th at 9 pm.

The topic of censorship has been a heated one recently. Making the most headlines is the proposed book ban in Texas, with nearly 100 school districts calling to remove library books that deal with race, racism, sex, gender and sexuality.

NBC listed 50 titles that parents have tried to ban in Texas, and the list includes highly acclaimed works such as “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, “The Perks of Being A Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky and “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison.

But it’s not just Texas. Book bans are spreading across the country so fast, you’d think we’re living out Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451.” Which, ironically, doesn’t seem to be prohibited yet (this time, at least).

One comic shop owner decided to take a stand by sending free copies of a graphic novel deemed “too graphic” for eighth grade curriculums. And because of his actions, others are following suit.

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When Ryan Higgins, owner of Sunnyvale’s Comics Conspiracy (cool shop name), heard the news that Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize winning “Maus” was pulled from the curriculum by the McMinn County Board of Education in Tennessee, he was baffled.

“You can’t teach the Holocaust without showing the most graphic imagery that humanity has ever seen,” Higgins told SFGATE. “[“Maus”] is nothing compared to the actual thing. It’s just mind-boggling that they’d remove it. It’s one of the most acclaimed graphic novels of all time, it’s just a seminal work. It’s been taught in schools and libraries and colleges for decades at this point.”

“Maus” depicts the story of Spiegelman’s parents experiencing the Holocaust and their imprisonment at Auschwitz. In the comic, Jews are represented by mice, Germans by cats, Poles by pigs, Americans by dogs and Swedish by deer. Like “Watchmen” and “The Dark Knight Returns,” “Maus” played a pivotal role in bringing mature comics to the mainstream.

So why was it banned? Over complaints of profanity and nudity. In particular, a dead nude female mouse, in a scene that reflected the suicide of Spiegelman’s mother.

In USA TODAY, Spiegelman himself called the decision a “culture war that’s gotten totally out of control.”

In anti-Orwellian fashion, Higgins offered to donate up to 100 copies of “Maus” to any interested family in the McMinn County area.

As I’ve offered before with other banned comics, I’ll donate up to 100 copies of The Complete Maus to any family in the Mcminn County area in Tennessee. Just DM me your address! pic.twitter.com/ptmdjmwYE5

— Ryan Higgins (@RyanHigginsRyan) January 26, 2022

Though Higgins has made similar offers in the past, this time around, the pledge went viral. And now it’s a full-blown movement. By Sunday, the complete edition of “Maus” had nabbed the No. 1 spot on the Amazon books best sellers list.

Nirvana Comics in Knoxville has created a fundraiser to help provide more copies to students. Its goal was to raise $20,000. So far, it has raised more than $100,000.

On the fundraiser website, Nirvana Comics hailed Spiegelman’s work as a “masterpiece,” and “one of the most important, impactful and influential graphic novels of all time.”

“We believe it is a must read for everyone,” the store stated.

For Higgins, standing up for impactful works of art is more than fighting the status quo. It’s about being a force for good.

The shop owner told the The Washington Post: ”When thought-provoking comic books and graphic novels are banned, this hits my world. Sending out free copies of ‘Maus’ is something I can do. If even one kid reads it and it changes their world, that’s a wonderful thing.”

ASAP Tyy looks like he’s having the time of his life during his UPROXX Sessions performance of the dancehall-inspired “Ting.” The Harlem-raised rapper’s single is imbued with all the jerk chicken-scented energy of the New York summertime, so it’s no wonder he was feeling so good while performing it, kicking his legs up and grinning into the camera like a kid in a candy store.

While the ASAP Mob that Tyy reps is best known for producing father-to-be ASAP Rocky and “Plain Jane” star ASAP Ferg, it’d be a mistake to overlook the less prominent members like Tyy. They’ve secretly been releasing some of the most intriguing, charismatic, and consistent music from the posse over the past few years, even if they seemingly fly just below most folks’ radars. Tyy himself is three mixtapes into his career, which helps to explain his lower profile (for comparison, Ferg has three albums, two mixtapes, and an EP to his name), but he’s been building up his discography with strong singles for the past year, dropping tracks like “100 Rounds,” “1990,” and “Who Ain’t With Me.”

As his catalog grows, so too will his audience, especially with fun summer singles like “Ting.” When he does drop his debut solo album, it’ll be well worth fans’ time to give it a spin.

Teen four-piece band The Linda Lindas launched into the public eye when their song “Racist Sexist Boy” went viral. After making their debut with the 2020 self-titled EP, The Linda Lindas are proving they’re here to stay with the recently announced album Growing Up. Now celebrating the upcoming LP, the young rockers to The Late Late Show With James Corden stage to raise a ruckus with their energetic number “Growing Up.”

This isn’t the first time The Linda Lindas played on late-night TV. After “Racist Sexist Boy” went viral, the group was invited to perform the track on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. But their Late Late Show set was still cause for celebration, as it drummed up excitement for their debut LP’s title track. Infusing the performance with rowdy energy, The Linda Lindas showcased their knack for exciting a crowd with their “Growing Up” performance.

Ahead of The Late Late Show set, the group sat down for an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe to chat about their music. Explaining the themes behind “Growing Up,” the band said they were feeling disillusioned by watching their teen years go by in a pandemic, so they wrote a song about it:

“I was just sitting in our living room, and it was during the pandemic, it was just at a point when I was just particularly missing everyone. I was like, ‘Oh my God, we’re at this point in our lives where we’re supposed to be figuring out who we are and what we want to do with our life and stuff.’ But it sucked that I wasn’t able to do that with some of the people that are most important to me. I don’t know. It was like you can’t make growing up happen, but you can’t stop it from happening either. So I was just like, I wanted to sing about it, I wanted to write a song about it because that’s how I found that I wanted to express myself most during the pandemic.”

Watch The Linda Lindas deliver “Growing Up” on The Late Late Show above.

Growing Up is out 4/8 via Epitaph. Pre-order it here.

G4 is back and has been steadily acquiring a mix of old and new talent for its revival. Unlike when G4 was simply a TV channel, this time, G4 is an attempt at a multi-media enterprise. It has a Twitch channel, but so does most of the talent that’s going to appear on the network.

G4’s latest new project is going to involve Twitch streamer AustinShow. G4 brought in AustinShow to host a game show called Name Your Price. It will be a weekly show that features some of the biggest content creators competing to determine prices of rare and interesting items from the internet.

“G4 has done a fantastic job positioning themselves as a breakout name in the space and digital community crossroad with their fresh approach to content and wide-reaching distribution model,” AustinShow said in a release. “I’m excited to partner with G4 in not only utilizing my hosting skillset across their platforms but also join as a creative executive with the goal to develop and grow G4’s presence on Twitch.”

The new show sounds like fun, especially with so many retro game items reaching auctions and selling for increasingly expensive prices. Name Your Price will premiere on AustinShow’s Twitch channel on Thursday, Feb. 10, and G4’s broadcast channels on Tuesday, Feb. 15.

Sasami’s self-titled 2019 debut album established her as a force to keep an eye on, and now, her second album, Squeeze, is on the way. That drops later this month, but ahead of then, Sasami has shared another look at it with a new single, “Call Me Home,” a perfect blend of folk-rock serenity and shoegazing heaviness. The tune is evidence that the new album is going to be a diverse album, as it doesn’t have a ton in common with its preceding single, “Say It.”

Sasami says of the song, “‘Call Me Home’ is dedicated to anyone who has blown up their life just to remember what it’s like to feel something. It’s about the darkness of feeling nothing and the creeping ache of apathy that can swallow you whole if you let it. It’s about skipping town, driving all night and knowing you’ll always have a home to come back to.”

The new project isn’t Sasami’s only big plan for 2022: It was announced back in December that Sasami will be joining Haim on tour this year as part of a stacked roster of openers that also includes Faye Webster, Waxahatchee, Princess Nokia, and Buzzy Lee.

Listen to “Call Me Home” above.

Squeeze is out on 2/25 via Domino. Pre-order it here.

Lin-Manuel Miranda has the number one song in the country this week with “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” but we need to talk about Moana.

The Disney animated feature starring Auliʻi Cravalho as Moana and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Maui, with an earworm soundtrack from Miranda, was the second most-streamed movie across all platforms in 2021, despite coming out in 2016. Luca finished first for the year with 10.592 billion minutes, compared to “only” 8.896 billion minutes for Moana, but “the Moana viewer tended to watch it more times,” according to Nielsen.

So many times, in fact, that Moana is now the most-streamed kids movie ever. It beat out the likes of Frozen, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid, which — fun fact — was directed by the same animation legends, Ron Clements and John Musker, as Moana.

I hope they get a shiny trophy for the distinction.

The complete 2021 top 10 streaming movies goes Luca, Moana, Raya and the Last Dragon, Frozen II, Red Notice, Frozen, Soul, Cruella, Mitchells vs. the Machines, and Jungle Cruise. That’s a lot of animation and movies starring The Rock. No wonder there are even redder notices coming to Netflix. The TV side is led by Criminal Minds and Cocomelon among acquired titles, and Lucifer and Squid Game for originals.

(Via Nielsen)